Beat egg whites until foamy. Add salt and cream of tartar, and beat mixture again until it holds soft peaks. Add the sugar gradually, beating the batter until it is stiff. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Spoon batter onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets (this step is important as I didn't use any paper, didn't have, so meringues were stuck on tray and had to use spoon to scoop out).

Bake for 25mins. Underside of cookies should be golden brown or lightly tanned.

Note : There are 2 approaches to baking meringues. This shorter baking time at a higher temperature yields a cookie with a crackly, crumbly exterior and an almost hollow centre. A more traditional approach is a longer baking time, 200 deg F for 1.5 - 2hrs. Take the longer version out when they are slightly golden and firm to the touch. They will be soft and fluffy, like miniature pavlovas.

My own note : Erm... I did the shorter high temperature one and it didn't come out like it said it should. Upon cooling, they were actually soft. Hmm...My verdict though, is that they are yummy morsels of marshmallow goodness. :)) Try it.

I was a 'bad' mummy today. I don't advocate fried food for my kid. But today, I decided to give her a break and made her a finger food lunch. So cut potato into strips and fried them, and fish nuggets as well. And a bowl of instant mushroom soup (just add hot water). There's also the meringues that I made this morning. She doesn't visit fast food places very often, if she's lucky, maybe once a month, or once in two months. Especially hearing stuff about trans fats etc, all the more have scaled down our visits to MacDonald's, Burger King, and such. But also the fact that I wasn't brought up on fried food stuffs. Grandma always said it was too 'heaty' for us, too much 'yang' (as in yin and yang) which causes sore throats, pimples etc. Hehe. Oops, another thing she doesn't know, haha. She thinks you can only get tomato sauce in Mac's or BK. She's addicted to that stuff, and it's nothing but sugar.

Some may think I'm being overly cautious and all, but really, this is how I would like to bring up my child. There's nothing good about such foodstuff so why encourage it? I like to give her fresh, healthy food. I'm not judging anyone who does, as this is entirely my own opinion towards it. Same goes with sweets too. Hubby told a story last night of his colleague's 4-yr-old daughter who has 20 cavities at the last dental check up. She has more cavities than she has teeth, he says. As she hates brushing her teeth and she loves sweets, this was bound to happen. The dentist could not do any fillings as she wouldn't allow him/her to, so now the last resort is to put her under general anaesthesia. The poor child.